Arsenal must be more ruthless, insists Mikel Arteta after Anderlecht slip-up

Arsenal let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers and must become more ruthless, captain Mikel Arteta said after the Gunners wasted the chance to reach the Champions League last 16 with two games to spare on Tuesday.

"When you are 3-0 up, in a big game like this, an important game like this, because we could have been through the group stage, we missed a tremendous opportunity," Arteta, who opened the scoring from the penalty spot but later went off with a hamstring injury, told Arsenal's website.

Arsenal v Anderlecht: Player Ratings

Arsenal v Anderlecht: Player Ratings

1/12
Woijech Szczesny: 6

On his return from Champions League suspension Szczesny had to be alert early on to keep the visitors out but to be fair to him there wasn’t a great deal he could do about any of their three late goals.

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2/12
Calum Chambers: 6

A quiet game for Chambers this evening – didn’t make any huge personal errors during the Anderlecht comeback but didn’t stamp his authority on the game either.

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3/12
Per Mertesacker: 5

Faced with the unenviable task of playing alongside Monreal, Mertesacker unsurprisingly looks rather unstable at the moment - will be disappointed he was beaten in the air for the equalising goal.

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4/12
Nacho Monreal: 3

In fairness to the Spaniard, he’s playing out of position - but that doesn’t change the fact he looks absolutely horrendous – surely there has to be someone else who can do a better job than him - isn’t Steve Bould still around?

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5/12
Kieran Gibbs: 7

Once Laurent Koscielny returns, Monreal should not get a place back in the Arsenal side because this young Englishman is in fine form. Solid defensively and a real asset going forward – he should be ahead of Luke Shaw in the England pecking order.

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6/12
Mikel Arteta: 6

Took his penalty calmly and passed the ball well but doesn’t offer his defence the sort of protection required from his position at the top level.

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7/12
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 8

With his injury woes appearing to be behind him, the 21-year-old is putting together a fine run of form – his goal and general play tonight showed why he must start on a regular basis.

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8/12
Aaron Ramsey: 6

Not quite back to his best following injury but had some nice moments as Arsenal dominated the middle part of the game.

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9/12
Alexis Sanchez: 8

Looks a better signing with every passing game – wonderful technical ability combined with terrier-like enthusiasm makes the Chilean near unplayable at times – he scored a stunning volley to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead.

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10/12
Santi Cazorla: 6

Can’t help but feel he’s at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to Arsenal’s riches in attacking midfield – not bad but not as impressive as his rivals for his place in the side.

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11/12
Danny Welbeck: 7

The goals have dried up a little for Welbeck but he is doing a fine job for the team and showed his worth as he won a penalty this evening.

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12/12
Mathieu Flamini: 5

Brought on for Arteta with half-an-hour to go and Arsenal cruising to victory, it would be hard to argue he had a positive impact. Not the answer to the Gunners’ weakness at the base of their midfield.

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"You can't afford to make mistakes like this and give any hope to any team in the Champions League because they have the quality to hurt you and that's what happened.

"We can't give those chances away because you don't know what's going to happen in the next [game]. When you have opportunities like this, being 3-0 up, it doesn't get any better than that, so we are very frustrated, very disappointed.

"We need to analyse what we've done because it's not good enough. What happened and it can't happen again."

Arsenal are still well-placed in Group D with seven points but manager Arsene Wenger believes it will be almost impossible to finish as group leaders as Borussia Dortmund, who they host next, have a maximum 12 points.

They will need only a point against the Bundesliga side to reach the last 16 for the 15th season running, but defeat could set up a nerve-jangling night in their final match in Turkey against Galatasaray.

Of more immediate concern for Arteta is that Arsenal bounce back with a victory over Swansea City in the Premier League.

"That's the best thing in football, we have another game in four or five days against Swansea away, and it needs to be different," he said.

He is unlikely to feature, however, according to Wenger.

"He has done a hamstring. I don't know what is wrong or how long he will be out for," the Frenchman said.